Good Mourning Sunshine
by MadFox32
Summary: When Athena stumbles upon Apollo's journal on a snowy winter's day and discovers the pain hidden in his past, she tries to unravel the mysteries that he's been tangled up in and show him that he's more loved than he realizes... But perhaps she's sacrificing more than her own blissful ignorance, falling into a forgotten world filled with hurt and hurting people.
1. Darkness of the Literal Sort

This is the first fanfic I ever wrote that still remains on the internet- the others were murdered brutally. It is also the first time I ever wrote romance… Ever. Despite this, it was my most popular one-shot... Ever, so whatever.

I was looking at this story a while back, and I had a strange burst of inspiration. I wondered what would happen if Athena started an excursion into the past, and, well, the plot thickened! A lot! The original one-shot is going to end up being mixed up in, like, chapter 5. This story's been totally reconstructed into the perspectives of 5 different people, beginning with Athena. I may or may not separate these into different fics entirely, making this a pentilogy? If that's a thing? Whatever.

I really hope you enjoy, through the sweetness and sadness, through sunshine and snow. I hope this story is meaningful, fun, and makes your heart happy. :)

* * *

><p>It was a pretty regular case, really- I had all the right answers, all the wrong questions, and a garbage bag full of confused crime scene sketches, empty coffee cups, and a decent portion of my sanity. I'd been sifting through piles of papers for hours now- even Apollo (who on a normal day had more coffee in his veins than actual blood) had given up for the night and headed home to his apartment so he could get some sleep. Mr. Wright had fallen asleep on the couch, soft snores coming from his mouth, quietly inviting me to slump over the desk in defeat.<p>

But no, the great Athena Cykes would not be so easily felled! And it most definitely was because of my mighty strength and not the fact that adrenaline and terror for the next day's trial were running rampant through my veins!

_...Who am I kidding? I wouldn't be able to sleep if I tried. _Sighing, I spun around in my wheely chair, papers strewn about by the breeze I'd created. I tried to catch one as it fell- yet another map of the dumb crime scene with no dumb escape routes for the dumb killer. _There's got to be an escape route. Rose is innocent, I know it!_ But even the one person who knew the crime scene best, the one person who practically lived there, the one person who believed in Rose even more than I did knew that there was no way out.

"I'm sorry, Athena… I know there has to be an escape route, but there isn't one." Trucy said, eyes tired and sad. "I know every trap door, air duct, and secret passage in the building, but there's no way anyone could have snuck out of the Wonder Bar, not even Houdini himself."

"There's got to be a way! Rose is innocent!"

"I know she is… But the evidence against her is airtight." She put a finger to her lips, clearly deep in thought. "Literally."

I could feel tears running down my face, my emotional and physical exhaustion finally getting to me. "I just know she's not the killer! And so does Apollo!"

"Daddy's too tired to believe in her, but I'm sure he does, too," Trucy added.

"...So the question isn't if there is an escape route. The question is where it is."

"Athena…"

"I need to go back to the crime scene!"

"Athena, you've been there _six times_," Trucy reminded me. "And I've been there six hundred, at the least."

"But the trial starts tomorrow, and if we don't have an escape route, the trial will be over in minutes!"

"Then think. If the lock isn't on the inside of the box, you've got to look outside of the box. Every good magician has an assistant to help them out."

"I've been thinking outside of the box, I've been thinking inside the box, I've been thinking around the box, I've been thinking on the box, I've been thinking over the box, and I've been thinking… Under the box…" I thought for a moment. "Wait, that's it! We didn't check under the floor! We've got to get to the crime scene, pronto!" Trucy looked at me sympathetically. "...You checked under the floor, didn't you?"

"Athena, I drew you a map of all the underground passages, remember?"

"But… What if there's one that you don't know about?"

"I've personally inspected every inch of every floor in that entire building. Athena, I'm beginning to think that maybe… Maybe Rose is guilty." I could hear the sadness in her voice, and her eyes were deep pools of the same emotion. I _knew _Rose was innocent, and she needed to know that too.

"You saw the mood matrix, remember? She was brokenhearted that the victim died. You didn't see any nervous tells!"

"People can control their feelings, and people can control their tells," Trucy said.

"...But they can't control the soul." Trucy and I turned around to see Mr. Wright holding a green glowing stone. "Trucy… You know your client's innocent. So prove it."

"Daddy, we can't!" Trucy griped.

"And why's that?" he replied.

"There's no escape route," I replied. "Not even a four story window, not even a garbage chute. It's like the client's in a safe."

"Except it's not really a safe. It's a danger," Trucy added.

"I think you're looking at this from the wrong angle," he said, grinning slightly. I could see the dark circles under his eyes, but the glint in them remained unchanging. "Don't ask how the killer got out of the safe. Ask how the killer got into the safe. That's the code you need to crack."

"It's not _actually_ a safe," I pointed out.

"...I know. I was making a Dad joke," he sheepishly admitted. "But still. Don't ask how the killer got out of the room… Ask how he got in."

"Trucy, we need to go to the scene of the crime," I announced.

"But Athena… It's locked!"

"It would be locked for the culprit, too!" I pointed out. "But there's gotta be a way in."

"Athena… I'm honestly too tired for this." I looked at Trucy sympathetically- she definitely wasn't much of a complainer, and I knew I'd pushed the poor girl to her limits.

"It's okay. You don't have to go," I told her. "You get some rest. I'll try out my crazy theories on my own."

"Athena, you can't go out into the streets of Los Angeles this late at night by yourself," the Boss chided.

"Don't worry- I'm sure Apollo would meet me at the Wonder Bar, and I can take a taxi," I reassured him.

"Are you seriously planning on waking up Apollo?"

"Wake him up? Seriously, Boss, it's only..." I looked at the clock. "Two in the morning." My face drooped a bit with embarrassment. "But Apollo never can sleep right before a trial!"

"Do what you want. But if Apollo's charged with assault, I'll be defending him," my boss replied with a tired smirk.

"Then it's settled!" I grinned, giving another peace sign. "I'll see you sleepyheads later. I mean it, Trucy, you need some sleep."

"All right… Good luck, Athena," Trucy said. "I'll be cheering for you."

"In your dreams," her dad joked. I shot him a disapproving glare before I left, making sure he had been properly punished. Closing the door behind me, I bounded down the stairs with gusto and welcomed myself into the cold winter's night.

(O)

_**Apollo, will you meet me at the Wonder Bar? I need to do some last minute investigating!**_

**Way ahead of you. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to do some poking around.**

_**You're already there? Even better. **_

**Yeah. But bring a jacket- the temperature is dropping faster than our chances of winning this case. **

Shivering, I put my phone into my measly pockets and lamented about the fact that I didn't have a coat. I wasn't entirely sure where Apollo was, but the silence of the night was making me uneasy. _Hey, it's not like you're investigating a bar or anything! Oh… Wait… _

"Apollo!" I shouted, trying to be as loud as I could without waking anyone up. "Where are you?!"

"Right here," a voice said. I jumped when someone in a black coat approached me.

"A-Apollo?" I asked.

"...Yeah?" the man replied. I glared at him, and he laughed, taking off his hood. Two antennae stuck out, as well as a bright smile. "Paranoid, maybe?"

"You… You aren't wearing red."

He laughed. "I don't always wear the color of my heart on my sleeve, you know."

"Oh, not you too! I've had it up to here with Dad jokes," I said, unfolding one of my arms from my chest to gesture exactly how tired I was. I slipped it back in immediately and shivered.

"I told you to bring a coat," Apollo reminded me.

"You were a little too late." I sighed. "So, have you found anything?"

"Nothing too important."

"But you found something?"

"A playing card of sorts. But it's next to a bar where magicians perform. That's not exactly strange." He held it up; it wasn't quite a playing card, but that was the best way to describe it: it was white and had a pink shell on it.

"It's cute… Where did you find it?" I asked. _If it belongs inside and managed to get out here, it might point to an escape route! _

"It was around back." Apollo gestured me to follow him, so I did. The Wonder Bar was constructed on a hill, making it look something like a hobbit pub from the side. The further around the hill we went, the harder it became to see, and the stiffer my cold limbs got.

"H-how much f-further is it?"

"Are you okay, Athena?" Apollo turned to face me, and I tried to stop myself from shivering- it didn't work.

"I'm f-fine," I stuttered.

Apollo sighed. "I'm wearing two coats. You can have one if you want."

_No!_ I screamed internally. _The only woman who belongs in his coat is Junie! _

_...But maybe she'd forgive me if she saw how cold it is. A girl can take her friend's jacket, no problemo._ ...Not that it mattered, because Apollo had already taken the thing halfway off. "Th-thank you."

He sniffed. "All you need to do is ask."

We walked for about a minute longer- Why does this building have to be so big, anyways?- until Apollo suddenly stopped. "Right here."

"This exact spot?"

"This exact spot." I opened my mouth to question him, but was silenced by his finger pointing at a red winter hat. "I needed a landmark, and it was messing up my hair," he sheepishly explained.

I laughed. "Well, we've got to investigate, then!"

"You're getting a little desperate on the escape route side of things. It was just a card, Athena."

"Just a card, huh? Then why'd you think it was important enough to drop your hat?"

"...I don't know. Gut feeling?"

"Hey, I'll take it over no feeling!" I replied. I looked at the side of the hill- the edge of the Wonder Bar was above our heads, supported by thick stone pillars. "You think someone could've used a stepladder?"

"...No, definitely not a stepladder. Not when a regular old ladder would do just fine."

"What do you mean?"

"A stepladder isn't going to get up there, not on the edge of a hill. Now, a regular ladder or a rope ladder might work."

"Ugh, you and your ladder specifics!"

"...You were the one who decided to be fancy and call it a stepladder," he pointed out.

"Ugh, whatever," I mumbled. "Got a rope ladder on hand?"

"Why would I have... Ack! Athena! What are you doing?"

"Climbing!" The stone pillars were made of bricks, and some of them stuck out like a kiddie climbing wall.

"You're going to get yourself killed!"

"No I'm not!" I was already out of reach of Apollo (not like it was that hard, considering his height) and climbing higher.

"Athena, seriously. You're the only one who can lead the defense team tomorrow, and if you're in the hospital, you know Rose'll plead guilty."

It was true. Rose, the defendant, was a crimson-haired professional musician with an intense fear of the male half of the human race, enough so that our client told us that Rose would rather plead guilty than take Apollo or Mr. Wright on as her attorney… Which was strange, considering that the band she'd once worked for was more than half male.

"I won't hurt myself." I rolled my eyes, taking another step, when all of a sudden a piece of brick chipped off under my foot. I screamed.

"Athena!" Apollo cried.

"I'm slipping! I'm slipping!" I shrieked when my foot failed to find a good hold, instead adding more pressure to my fingertips.

"Jump!" Apollo yelled. _Right! The hill! _Holding onto the pillar for dear life, I could tell that the hill was a good five feet away. _I'm too great to die! _ Kicking off of the pillar with all of my might, I landed on the hill and breathed a sigh. "Athena! What the heck was that?!"

"You being right!" I replied shrilly, heart racing. I tried to stand up, only to feel the ground under me cave. I screamed.

"Athena! No!" Apollo cried, my world being enveloped in darkness. Not metaphorical creepy darkness, like when someone dies or passes out, though. Just plain old mildly creepy darkness. My feet hit the ground, painful heat shooting up my ankles from the distance of the fall, but otherwise unharmed.

"Apollo, don't worry! I'm fine! But there's a cave in here!"

"Get out of there!"

"I can't, it's too far up. I fell ten feet or so, I think," I yelled. I turned on Widget, light flashing around the room, and turned on its flashlight function. The room was lit up well enough that I could see, and I looked on in awe.

"Athena..." I could hear Apollo's voice trembling, and I stopped. _He's lost one too many friends to tragedy already. _

"I'm sorry, Apollo! But I'm fine, I promise. I'll find a way out right now. But there's a gigantic room in here!"

"P-please, just find a way out. I want to see it, but I need to see you first."

"Don't you worry." I walked down some metal stairs into what looked like a warehouse, and eventually came upon something that resembled a door. There was a lever on the side of it, and with a great amount of muscle power, I forced it open about a foot. Muscles aching, I looked outside to see a red hat on the ground right in front of the door. "Apollo?" I asked, poking my head out the door. I was met with an awkward through-the-door hug with my co-worker and friend.

"_Never_ do that again."


	2. Mahogany

Some of you might be sad to know that I'm taking a hiatus from my other stories to write this, but I don't think you'll miss it- even I'm dying from all the suspense, and for once I know what happens!

I hope you enjoy this chapter- feedback would be amazing! *looks hopefully at review button*

(O)

I don't think I'd ever been hugged by Apollo before, so despite the awkwardness of our little embrace I found it sort of heartwarming.

"You scared me half to death," Apollo breathed.

"I scared me half to death, too!"

"Why the heck did you _do _that?"

"I don't know. I'll regret it in the morning," I said, sighing. I wedged through the gap that the door had left to join Apollo and looked where I'd just come out of- grass had grown over the door and it had been covered in a solid 6 inches of dirt- whatever was inside of this place had to be ancient. "We gotta check it out!"

"Hold it!" Apollo called, stopping me from wedging back through the door. "It's two in the morning, and there's a chance that our killer is around here!"

"Meaning you're scared we'll die and nobody will find our bodies?"

"...That's a gruesome way of putting it."

"Don't worry, Apollo! I'm the best runner around!"

"...I'm not."

"Psychologically speaking, the adrenaline and norepinephrine rush you'll get from being chased will make you pretty fast, too."

"Ugh, you sound like Ema, making scientific sounding threats."

"Who's Ema?"

"Huh? Oh, she's a friend of mine."

"What do you mean by friend? Like a friend friend or a _friend _friend?"

"Uh… A friend?" He looked at me with an eyebrow raised, and I glared at him. "Woah! Woah, no. There is _nothing _going on there. Absolutely nothing _at all._" I continued glaring at him. "All right! We can go into the creepy dungeon under the bar! Just stop glaring at me!"

"No, now I'm suspicious. Who is this girl?"

"She's a forensic scientist I met a while back on my second case. We've worked together a few times, but we spend the majority of our time together making fun of Prosecutor Gavin."

"And she's just a friend?"

"Yes!"

"...All right, I think you're telling the truth."

"That's what I told you the first time! Can we please investigate the creepy dungeon under the bar now?"

"Ha, of course! Reverse psychology… It works every time!" I grinned, pushing my way into the darkness of what we were apparently calling the dungeon. I could hear Apollo grumbling behind me, sliding through the door to join me.

"Wow, it's dark in here." Even with a light, it was impossible to see more than ten feet in front of us.

"Widget's flashlight isn't enough to help much. Do you think this place has a working light?" I asked.

"It looks really old, but lightbulbs are supposed to last for 25 years or something like that, and it doesn't look like this place has been touched hardly at all."

"So that's a yes?"

"Yeah, I'd think so."

I stumbled along the wall, looking for a switch, finally finding one illuminated by Widget's glow. I flicked it on, and the giant room lit up slowly, one light flickering on after another. "Wow…" The somber gray room was filled with what looked like magic props, lighting equipment, stage decorations, and even musical equipment. Everything was dull and covered in a thick layer of dust, completely untouched.

"What is this place?" Apollo asked.

"I don't know. It looks like some kind of storage room."

"Why doesn't Trucy know about this? It would be great if she could keep all her props here instead of the floor of the office," he grumbled, sounding more awed than bitter.

"It's gigantic… I'd never expect this under the Wonder Bar. It really does look like a dungeon." I could see half a dozen staircases within my line of sight, each one dividing the room into some sort of labyrinth. The ceiling was exposed, copper pipes and light fixtures hanging down eerily.

"A-Athena?"

"What?" I asked.

"L-look…" My eyes turned to where Apollo's finger was pointing, and I could feel my fears solidify in my chest. He sprinted over to a bare area of concrete, freezing once he'd gotten close enough to examine it.

"Is that… A b-bloodstain?" I asked. I walked closer to the giant reddish brown stain on the gray concrete floor, noticing immediately that the stain was a lot larger than I'd thought- dry blood was caked all over a broken stereo, fissures in the crimson coating showing its age.

Apollo knelt down on the concrete, brown eyes wide, searching the ground for some sort of meaning his eyes had already perceived. "Someone… Someone died here," he said quietly. "It looks like the corner of the stereo stabbed them."

"Was it the victim?"

"No, there's too much blood," he said. "And this stain looks old… Really old. You can't even smell it." He pulled out his phone and began dialing someone.

"What are you doing?"

"Calling a forensic scientist," he said.

"Ugh, that awful stain's been there for twenty years. You can wait one more morning, can't you?" _...That wasn't Apollo speaking just now!_

"W-what? Who are you?" Apollo asked, jumping to his feet and whipping his head around. His voice echoed through the empty room. A woman emerged from behind a staircase with her arms crossed. She was only a few yards away, close enough to see her features- her snow white hair was cut very short, tips blue and purple, and her blue eyes seemed to be piercing through us. She was small, tired-looking, and apparently not very happy with us.

"I'm the owner of this place, wondering who just crashed through my ceiling at two in the morning."

"Neptune Cygam?" Apollo asked.

"The one and only. Now, what are you kids doing, poking around here in the middle of the night? If you wanna take some of this junk, be my guest. It's not as if it's used anymore. Just please, don't call the cops yet. Sleep is hard to come by these days. "

"We aren't kids!" I retorted. "And there's a giant bloodstain here! Of course we're gonna call the cops!"

"Which you're standing on, by the way." The woman laughed hollowly as I jumped backwards. "That case is past its statute of limitations anyway, so don't get…" She trailed off, staring at Apollo in confusion. "Apollo Justice?"

"H-how do you know my name? I don't remember ever meeting you..."

"You're a lawyer, right?" Her eyes were fixed on Apollo's badge, and I could hear a hint of discord in her voice, but I was too afraid of her to call her out.

"Yeah. We're defending Rose Mahogany tomorrow," Apollo told her.

"Tomorrow's already here, sweetheart. I think you meant today." She grinned. "Say, Rose wouldn't happen to be the guitarist with the cherry hair, would she? She brings in a lot of business."

"That'd be our client."

"Hah. Ridiculous," she said. "Twenty bucks says you aren't her lawyer, Mr. Justice. As for this young lady, I can see it." _I guess she knows about Rose's little quirk._

"The name's Athena Cykes. I'll be defending Rose, but Apollo's along for the investigation."

"Is he here to protect you from the serial killers you meet when breaking into bars at two in the morning? Because I personally think you'd put up a better fight."

"Sorry about that…" I said. "But… That's a lot of blood."

"You can investigate that later, if you kids really want to. But I can assure you it's unrelated to your case."

"Unrelated?"

"Sure. That blood's twenty years old."

"Then why haven't you cleaned it up?"

"It's nostalgic, in a way. If you kids want to come back later to look at it when your case is over, I won't stop you. I might even help you out. But I can pinky promise you that it's unrelated."

"...Please don't lie to us, Ms. Cygam." Apollo was holding his bracelet, staring intently at the petite woman in front of us who did little but smile.

"Oh no, you caught me." She put her hands up in fake surrender and rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I can't say it's completely unrelated. But I can definitely say that nothing you learn from that stain on the floor will help Rose any. All it could provide is a motive for the real culprit. Not that motive matters anymore these days in your little kiddy courts."

"You know who the real culprit is?!" I blurted out. "Who?!"

"If you swear to leave this place and come back at eight so I can sleep for a little while, I'll tell you. Do we have a deal?"

I looked at Apollo and shrugged. "I think we've got a deal, Ms. Cygam," he said.

"All right. I don't know much about the guy, really, but I'm sure any friends you might have at the prosecutor's office would. Mr. _Justice_, that card you're holding… Do you know exactly what it is?"

"A playing card?" I'd forgotten completely about the card Apollo had, but he'd been fiddling with it for a while now.

"Heh. I suppose, though it's not a game I'd be particularly interested in playing. No, that's a calling card."

"Calling card…?"

"Yeah. For an assassin."

"An assassin?!" I gasped. "But wait… How would he have found this place? Not even the performers know about it."

"How would you know what the performers know?"

"Ever heard of Trucy Wright?"

"Ah, the blue girl! She's a darling, that's for sure. Is she a friend of yours?"

"...I guess that's the best way to put it, yeah. She's going to be Athena's aide in the case tomorrow," Apollo said.

"Ah, she's definitely a good one to keep around, for you and for me. Well, let me tell you that this assassin's been here before. See, I'm not supposed to know this, but if it helps clear Rose, I'll help you out: the victim was a member of Interpol."

"The International Police?"

"Scott really hated that assassin, so he wanted to bring him to justice. Even though he was a genius when it came to investigating, he was a mere fly in the way. The second Scott proved he could bite was the second the flyswatter came at him."

"So-"

"I think it's time I got some sleep… You two should get going," she said curtly.

"Right. Sorry for destroying your roof, Ms. Cygam…"

"I'll have to show you the proper way to get in here, won't I?"

"That would be really great!" I exclaimed. _And to think I was scared of this lady! ...All right, keeping a bloodstain around for nostalgic purposes isn't exactly angelic, but she seems more than willing to help us out._

"All right, follow me. And then get some sleep. You kids have a chica to defend."

"We will. We'll clear Rose's name for you and for her!" Ms. Cygam led us up one of the warehouse's many staircases, opening up a door that led into a hallway. The walls were bare and close together, and squeezing through the opening proved difficult for Apollo. _He seems smaller than he is, I guess. Now that I think about it, he might even be taller than me…. Ack! No, you can't think like that! You're __**not**_ _smaller than Apollo!_

We ended up at a dead end, and I wondered what exactly we were doing until Ms. Cygam pushed on the brick wall and a section of it came dislodged. She ducked, small enough to accomplish that, and Apollo and I crawled through the hole on hands and knees. "Where are we?" I asked.

"Oh, dressing room one," she replied, pushing the section of wall back in.

"That's where Rose was!" I exclaimed. I ran over to the window that the room shared with the security office, and found the bullet hole that had caused it all. "Did the assassin break in the same way we did?" I asked.

"Yeah… You fell through the hole he left. I tried to cover it up, but it didn't work so well, I guess," Ms. Cygam said. "Well, I'll see you kids in a few hours. I'll be asleep, like you two should be."

"Sorry for disturbing you, Ms. Cygam," I said. "Sleep well!"

"It's no problem. Get Rose a not guilty, would you?"

"I've never felt so prepared for a trial!" I exclaimed. "The prosecution won't know what hit them!"

She laughed. "Good." She pulled out a pocket knife, and I jumped. She stuck it into the gap in the bricks and pulled them out enough for her hands to do the rest. _She keeps freaking me out_. "I'll see you two."

"Yeah!" She disappeared, and Apollo and I looked at each other.

"So, we aren't actually going to sleep, are we?" I asked.

"Of course not. The trial's tomorrow."

I laughed. "Then let's get investigating!"


	3. Doubting Facts, Trusting Contradictions

Have I confused you yet? Good. All part of the plan! Hopefully some questions will be answered by the end of the next two chapters, but until then read and enjoy (and review. Reviews activate the same part of the hypothalamus that cookie dough does, according to my not-very-scientific study I did during dinner yesterday).

Also! This is set in Japanifornia, so it actually snows occasionally. I decided, and you can't stop me! I have supreme weather controlling powers that you can't even fathom! XD

Well, enjoy! :D

(O)

The smell of blood in the room was unsettlingly strong, and the metallic smell reminded me of the robotics lab at the space center. I could feel butterflies in my stomach, but not happy butterflies- murderous, angry robot butterflies that kept reminding me that we were trespassing on a crime scene at three in the morning.

"Should we feel guilty about this?" I asked.

"No," Apollo answered. "The police wouldn't let us in here yesterday, and Ms. Cygam only kicked us out so she could sleep. We've just got to be quiet."

"All right! Let's get to it!" I exclaimed, attempting to snap myself out of my bad mood.

"_Quiet_," he reminded me.

"Heh… Right."

The Wonder Bar was made up of a giant auditorium with two dressing rooms and a security office behind it. I'd wondered where Ms. Cygam, the head honcho, stayed, but I guess we'd just figured that out. The only way to access the dressing rooms and security office was from onstage, which was blocked off to the public- the three rooms stood in a row behind the stage, with the security office on the left side, dressing room 1 in the middle, and dressing room 2 on the right.

"So according to the autopsy, Scott Coello was in his office on security duty at midnight when a bullet entered through his lower jaw and out the middle of his head…" Apollo put one finger on his chin and another on the back of his head as a demonstration.

"Why was Rose still there at midnight? Her show ended at 8."

"You'll have to ask her about that one. I'm more curious as to why Mr. Coello was in his security office while he was supposed to be patrolling the bar."

"It does make it easier for our assassin friend," I thought aloud.

"...Do you seriously believe her, Athena?"

"Huh?"

"She had some gigantic bloodstain on her floor because she thought it was artistic, and she kicked us out of there so she could stay in there alone. Not to mention that my hand was almost blue by the time we left, since my bracelet was choking my arm to death."

"All right, she's weird. But she was way too helpful, considering that if she killed the two of us, nobody would ever find our bodies." I frowned. "Plus, I only sensed discord when she was talking to you."

"To me?" Apollo frowned. "Great. Yet another misandrist on this case who's afraid of my very existence." _It's not men she dislikes… It's just you._

"I think it's the devil horns."

Apollo shot me a demonic glare, furthering my argument. "But seriously… I don't think we can trust her."

"Well, it's a good thing the boss is friends with the chief prosecutor. It can't take too long to examine a card and check the Interpol records, can it? See if she was lying?"

"Athena. I think you're missing the point."

"What point?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if an assassin was involved… It's just that assassins have to be hired."

"...Oh." I frowned. "You think she wanted to kill him? Why?"

"...He's a male," he offered.

I rolled my eyes. "When she talked about him, her emotions were pretty steady. There's only so much I can analyze without Widget, but she didn't have any kind of obvious hatred for him."

"Who else would want to kill a security guard?" Apollo asked.

"I don't know about a security guard… But an Interpol agent?"

"Ms. Cygam knew he was an Interpol agent. That makes her more than a little suspicious."

"Seriously, Apollo, I know she didn't kill him."

"Widget's saying one thing, my bracelet another. I say we forget them and think about the facts."

"The fact is that she's got no motive."

"She's got a bloodstain in her basement for aesthetics, and she figured out an Interpol agent was onto her." _NOW he's got a motive. I see how it is._

"...All right, that's a good motive, but it's not true!"

_"Athena."_

_"Apollo."_

He sighed. "You're the defense on this case. I'm just saying that she's a suspect. A very, very _suspicious suspect_."

"It doesn't matter if she's a suspect unless we can prove that there's actually an assassin on the case."

"...If there isn't, you've got no other option but to pin the blame on her, Athena."

"What do you mean?"

"She's got access to the crime scene. If there's not an assassin involved, and if Rose is innocent, Ms. Cygam did it."

"Ugh… Then that card is our only hope!"

Apollo sighed. "I have one question. Who would hire an assassin?"

"I don't know."

"Athena, you need a suspect going into court. Ms. Cygam's got more than enough evidence against her."

"But I _know_ it's not her!"

"Athena, you already said that you didn't get to do a full scale analysis, and some people are good at controlling their emotions."

"Yeah, and some people have nervous tics for reasons other than them lying!" Apollo looked taken aback, and it took a second for me to realize what I'd said. "S-sorry..! I didn't mean it that way." _This has nothing to do with you accusing me back in December…!_

"I-It doesn't matter," he muttered. "You're right. We can worry about who hired the assassin later. We need to look at the crime scene."

"Apollo…" He looked at me with an unreadable expression, and I bit my lip. _Way to go, Athena._

"So, I've got a question. How did Mr. Coello get a bullet through his chin and out the middle of his head if the bullet hole in the window's four feet off the ground?" he asked. _I can't tell if I should let him change the subject. I pulled a bit of a scumbag move back there…_

"Apollo-"

"Either our victim was pretty close to the window when he was shot or the killer was on the end of the room and shot from a distance."

"Apollo, listen to me!"

"Seriously, Athena, it's okay. I'm fine."

"No you aren't. I'm sorry… I-"

"I'm not talking emotions right now. Not at 3 in the morning."

_**"But feelings are best heard in the middle of the night!"**_ Widget chirped.

"Eh heh heh. Yeah, feelings later. We've got a crime scene to analyze," I reluctantly replied, attempting to sound cheerful. I felt _really_ guilty now. Great.

"Right." Apollo nodded his head. "So, where do you think the assassin shot from?"

"I think you're forgetting something, Apollo," I said. "There's an easier explanation for why the bullet would make that trajectory."

"Huh?"

"He'd just have to be looking up."

"Looking up…?" Apollo lifted his chin up, putting one finger on his chin and another on the back of his head. "Huh, I guess you're right. But why would he be looking up?"

"I don't know! I'm just presenting the possibility that the killer might have shot him while standing up."

"Well, how far away do you think they were?"

"Pretty close, I'd think- the killer hit the most vital part of the brain perfectly on target."

Apollo's face deadpanned. "We're dealing with an assassin here. I don't think that means much."

"Oh… Right."

"If only we could get into the security office… We might get a more accurate path of trajectory," he said.

"I'm sure the prosecution will have all of that planned out. It's not like we don't usually mooch off of their information anyways," I replied. "Who is the prosecution, anyways? Do you know?"

"Prosecutor Gavin."

"Prosecutor Gavin?! Is that… Why?! Rose is…"

"Prosecutor Gavin isn't a member of the Gavinners anymore, Athena."

"He can't prosecute one of his former bandmates, though!" I frowned. "Do you think he'll lose on purpose?"

"No… But I'm sure he wants to lose. I don't blame him for not trusting his bandmates, though."

From what I'd heard of them since Junie's first trial, the Gavinners were one of the coolest bands ever. I've got a peculiar taste in music because I can hear a singer's emotions, and the band always sang with emotions that lined up with their music- no discord, just beautiful emotional harmony. With Klavier on vocals and guitar, Rose on bass, Cynthia on keyboard, and Shane on drums, they were a phenomenal group. All four of them could sing quite well, and Cynthia's sweet, soft voice in particular often weaved with Klavier's rougher German sounding voice to make beautiful music that was both foreign and familiar. "You're right… It's too bad the drummer was convicted of murder."

"The drummer?" Apollo laughed. "You obsess over them too much to mix them up, don't you think?" _Nngh... Well, at least he seems to be feeling better._

"What do you mean? Shane was convicted of murder just a little while ago, and the Gavinners broke up a couple days later!"

"Athena… The _guitarist_ was convicted of murder."

"Nuh-uh!" I retorted, sticking out my tongue. "What do you know about the Gavinners, anyways?"

"Athena, _volume_," Apollo chided. "I prosecuted Daryan Crescend and personally proved his guilt in the murder case. _I witnessed the victim dying_."

"No, it was definitely the drummer. Klavier's the guitarist!"

"There were two guitar players," Apollo said.

"But they only broke up because the band couldn't stay together after they lost their drummer!" Apollo opened his mouth up to argue, but I didn't let him. "No, wait. I'm looking this up, right now. I think I've got wi-fi…" I pulled out my phone and pulled up the Gavinners wikipedia page. "...Huh. We're both right."

"What do you mean?" Apollo asked.

_"Daryan Crescend, the second guitarist in the band, was convicted of murder and was consequently prosecuted by Klavier Gavin in court. Devastated with the loss of a friend and co-worker, the Gavinners refused to break up- "The show must go on," said drummer Shane Louis about the incident. However, only weeks later, Shane was convicted of murder and the band broke up, unable to continue with its three remaining members," I read, frowning._

"Prosecutor Gavin…" Apollo frowned. "I didn't know about this. That's… Horrible."

"The guy's been through a lot," I agreed. I'd heard the sad song his voice carried, cool and charming but full of regret. I knew it had to run deeper than just Professor Courte's death- the pain in Prosecutor Gavin's heart was much more audible than even Junie's, and Junie had been more than just broken up about her professor's passing.

"You haven't even brushed the surface," Apollo muttered. Discord suddenly crackled in my ears- _What was that?!_

"This case is getting more and more unrealistically complicated as the night goes on," I moaned. "Apollo, is this a nightmare?"

"Here, let's check." He reached towards me and pinched me really hard on the arm.

"Owwwww!" I yelped.

He burst out laughing, trying to keep his volume down and mostly failing. "I guess not!"

"I hate you," I spat, rubbing my arm. I looked around the crime scene again, trying to think of what else we could investigate. "I can't think at all. I'm so tired." I yawned in order to prove my point, and Apollo yawned in return.

"Do you want to go home and sleep for a while?"

I frowned. "I live half an hour away by car, and there aren't taxis around here at this hour."

"My house is right down the street. You can crash there if you want… It's not much, but it's better than sleeping on the bloodstained floor."

Hearing the word 'blood' reminded me of the atrocious smell, and I nodded vigorously. "I don't really want to sleep, but I'm _so_ tired…"

"You need to be well rested for court tomorrow. Mr. Wright and I can't defend Rose, after all." It was sad how afraid Rose was of men- her entire personality warped when she was near one, going from a kind, sweet, shy woman to a hollow shell of bitterness. The trial tomorrow would be a strange one, for sure.

"Yeah… But I can only sleep for a little while! We've got to investigate the basement of this place before the trial starts!"

"Of course." He frowned. "How are we going to get back here, though? Isn't it locked?"

"There should be some policemen here, though… Right?" I cracked open the door to hear loud snoring, and found someone asleep at the entrance. "...Poor guy fell asleep on the job."

"If you take a picture, we can blackmail him into letting us in later," Apollo impishly suggested. Grinning, I did just that.

"All right, vamanos! Sleep! Now!"

"Right." We abandoned the crime scene, which in hindsight wasn't exactly a stroke of genius, but it seemed like a great option at three in the morning. Walking across the vast stage was a bit empowering, and I probably would've pulled some sort of stunt if it weren't for the slumped figure of the police officer next to the door to the crime scene. Standing at the edge of the stage, the room was beautiful. The floor, wall, and ceiling were all a glittering black and electric blue tables and chairs filled the room. The whole place felt surreal, and I could imagine how Trucy felt performing on this stage.

Hopping off the stairs and shuffling between the audience seating, I opened the front door only to be greeted by a gust of freezing cold air. "Oh, I f-forgot ab-bout the w-weather."

"It's gotten colder," Apollo remarked, seemingly concerned for me.

"I'm f-fine!" I gripped his coat tightly, trying to warm up before Apollo's second coat would be placed over my shoulders. Streetlights encompassed the world in a warm glow, and I could see snowflakes drifting lazily through the air, falling on the ground in a fluffy pile. "Is that… Snow?" I asked, pointing at the specks of white.

"Looks like it… I haven't seen snow since Clay dragged me up a mountain to go stargazing." I looked Apollo in the eyes to measure his reaction, and though sadness plagued his voice, he seemed to have reached some sort of satisfactory conclusion about it all, one that I wasn't going to comment on.

"It's pretty, the way it glitters in the streetlights," I commented. Apollo hummed in agreement. I yawned again, and Apollo yawned in response. "Ugh. Sleep and warmth sound so good right now."

"We'll be home soon," he reassured me. We walked in silence the rest of the way back as I tried to ignore the pain in my fingertips that weren't covered by my glove. We came across a community of tiny condos that looked affordable even to a rookie lawyer with tons of student loans, and I figured out which one was Apollo's instantly just by seeing one stand out with a bright red front door. "That one's mine," he said.

"Awesome." Part of me wanted to run there, but the rest of me screamed that that was a terrible idea and that I should just continue to shuffle there uncomfortably. Reaching the door, he opened it for me, and I thanked him as a blast of warmth enveloped me, making me feel instantly at home.


	4. Let it Snow

Apollo's house-if you could call it that- was warm. There was probably a better way to describe it, but I couldn't think of one. It was somewhat plain- I could see a black desk, surprisingly devoid of clutter, with an unsurprisingly red wheely chair in front of it. The walls were tan, and a few red chairs sat in the room. I could smell something like laundry detergent, or at least lavender: not the kind of smell you'd expect from a bachelor pad. "Wow, this is actually pretty nice."

"Thanks." It was a lot nicer than my little apartment, to say the very least. "Go ahead and make yourself at home… Do you think you can sleep?"

"Probably. I feel a lot better about the case."

"I don't think I will, so you can sleep in my bed-" he realized how awkward that sounded, and his face flushed-"o-or the couch. Whatever you're comfortable with." He started playing with his hair as he blushed profusely. I laughed, looking at him with a smug grin.

"Wow Apollo, I didn't realize you were that type." Apollo managed to blush even more, if that were possible.

"N-no, I'm not!" I laughed harder at his squawks of protest. After my laughter had died down, he cleared his throat. "I don't have any clothes for you..." I laughed harder, the late night making me slap-happy, and he had to force the rest of the words out through an unamused expression. "But you can sleep on the couch in the other room." I smiled.

"That sounds good."

"Good luck with that. Maybe I'll feel tired after a while, who knows." Rolling my eyes, I left the room, untied my tie, and saw a brown, gold, and white spotted fluffball on the couch where I was supposed to sleep. "Apollo! Since when did you have a cat?!" I called.

"His name is Calico. Be nice."

"Calico?" I said, unimpressed.

"Hey, at least I didn't just call my pet hawk Taka."

"...I have to give you that," I conceded. I attempted to pet the little thing, and it started purring. _Aww..._ I picked him up, laid down on the couch, and put him back on my lap, and the little guy curled up in my lap and started purring like a motor boat. With his warm, fluffy body on top of me and sweet little rumbles coming from his throat, I closed my eyes and felt the world slipping away almost immediately.

(O)

_"Apollo? Are you there? This is Phoenix. Your trial for today was cancelled. Apollooooooooo..."_

I woke up to the sound of the boss's voice over the answering machine. _Did Apollo actually fall asleep? _I picked up the phone groggily. "Hey, Boss! It's Athena!" I said, my tiredness vaporizing into enthusiasm.

_"You're at Apollo's house?!" _He sounded appalled. _Is it that surprising?_

"Yeah, I couldn't get a taxi."

_"Huh. Well, they called off your trial. You know it's serious when they stop one of those."_

"Huh? Why?!"

"_Have you seen what it looks like outside? It's a nightmare." _I ran over to the nearest window, pushing red curtains apart to reveal a world of white.

"Wow…" I breathed. "I haven't seen snow like this since I was in Europe. I can't believe they cancelled a trial, though!"

_"Well, what do you do? Sue God for the obstruction of justice?" _Phoenix laughed. _"Well, it's a good thing they called it off. You seem like you just woke up. How did you manage to get Apollo to sleep the night before a trial, anyways? I've been trying to do that for two years."_

"I have no idea." I could practically see Phoenix's smug smile through the phone.

_"Ha ha ha. Well, I hope you can get home safe. Oh, and I would suggest not talking to him until he's had coffee. I've learned that one the hard way."_

"I'll take your word on that. Well, I think I'll head over to the office eventually, so see you then!"

After hanging up, I wandered into the kitchen. The room was, unsurprisingly, as red as a room could be without being a painful sight. I found a cherry-colored coffee maker on a counter and quickly figured out how it worked. I noticed a bag of Starbuck's coffee, featuring a familiar astronaut and flashing the motto, "You will get out alive!" and I laughed to myself. It was funny how he managed to work his way onto the weirdest product ads. However, seeing his face had always filled my heart with good memories, so I wasn't complaining.

I walked into Apollo's living room, sitting down on his couch, only to jump up quickly, realizing I'd sat on something hard. _I hope that wasn't his cat! _I picked up what looked like a red book. _Is this a journal?_ I looked at it with an evil smile. I was reminded of the conversation I had with Mr. Wright after finding Mrs. Courte's dead body: "You can't look through a girl's diary! It might be important." I looked at the journal again. _Well, Apollo isn't a girl... And this isn't a diary. Plus, I owe it to Junie to get information about his feelings for her!_ Grinning evilly, I flipped through it- there was a lot of writing. I opened to a page dated a while back... _Oh! Speaking of Junie, this one's about Themis! _ I read a few lines.

_**I saw Klavier for the first time in a while today. He seemed a lot stronger than he's been, all things considered. He showed up "on the wind" as usual, trying to give me a heart attack with his spontaneous spawning at crime scenes. He actually helped us out by participating in a mock trial of sorts- I could see him beaming the entire time, getting way into his role. He'd make a terrible actor, but I'd probably end up watching his movies anyways. I can't stop wondering if Athena can tell how hurt he is. Finally, it feels like my life is coming together, but his life just keeps falling apart. Honestly, why did his mentor have to die? The one person who supported him and cared about him because he loved the truth like nothing else… It makes me miss him in court, honestly. That sounds really cheesy, but I miss going up against someone who understands how important their role is. Whenever I screwed up, I could tell that Prosecutor Gavin had my back… Now, Blackquill just wants to eat me. Put me in a blender and eat me. I'd rather be called Herr Forehead all day than face someone who doesn't have that kind of conviction, but I guess that's a part of growing as a lawyer. In a sense, Prosecutor Gavin became my mentor to me… Not in the Mr. Wright sort of way, though- just as a friend.**_

_**Prosecutor Gavin? A friend? Heh. Never thought I'd say that. **_

_This is actually kind of sweet. I'll have to forgive him for the part about Simon, but he didn't know._ Smiling, I thought of everything that might be in his journal: his crushes, his embarrassing secrets... Aaand a lot of pain, too. _This is so not okay. You're going to end up crying your eyes out and feeling bad for the rest of the day. Don't do it, Athena. Don't do it. _I did it, shamelessly flipping to December 28's entry.

_**Athena… What's going on?! I thought she cared about me. I thought she was going to be the one friend I had through all of this, but there's no doubting that every piece of evidence points straight to her. Even my own bracelet. This can't be happening again. Why do I bother trusting people anymore? My parents, Mr. Wright, Kristoph, Clay… Why do I bother making friends? Is all this my fault? Nobody else seems to accidentally convince everyone around them to ruin each other's lives. ...It probably was Athena. I can't seem to find anyone who really cares about me. Except Clay, and he's dead. And Trucy, I guess. She's the only reason I regret taking a leave. But I believed in Athena. And I think I still do, even though all of the evidence points to her. I wish all this doubt was gone! I'm supposed to believe in my clients until the bitter end… What about my friends?! I'm no lawyer. But in court tomorrow, I refuse to leave until I have absolutely no doubt in my mind of Athena's innocence... or guilt. And if Wright's mad at me, I don't care. He has to face reality eventually. But I hope this isn't reality. Maybe Athena's innocent, and I won't need to feel betrayed again. Maybe. But until then, I'm going to let it go. Her trial is in an hour, and I need to be prepared to face her. I just hope I can stay strong.**_

I was right about the crying part-I was trying really hard not to sniffle. A lot of Apollo's life was unfamiliar to me, I realized. _What happened with his parents? And what did Mr. Wright ever do? And who's Kristoph? _Thinking all of this pain tied back to me hurt, and I knew I was intruding on something never meant for me. Yet I still felt obligated to know, to feel his pain without making him endure it again, so I could be there when he needed me and understand. I flipped the page, hoping it would get better, hoping I could feel the smile I had seen so clearly that day. I couldn't.

_**Ugh. I feel like an idiot. Regardless of what Athena said about thinking I'm brave, I'm not. I've forgotten what it means to be a lawyer, and what it means to be a friend. I've messed this one up so badly, I doubt anyone could really forgive me. But my bracelet didn't react when she said that... Could Athena really have meant it? Oh, right. I still had my bandages on. But she still seemed genuine enough. I don't think Athena's ever consciously lied to me... Which is why that case was so awful. Wow. Earlier today I thought she killed my best friend. What would have I done if Mr. Wright hadn't uncovered the truth? I'd probably feel angry, I guess. Angry that Wright couldn't prove me wrong, angry that one of my few remaining friends betrayed me, angry that Clay died... And angry at myself. I probably would've run away again, only to come crawling back to Mr. Wright 2 months later like I did the last time. I'm not brave at all, regardless of what Athena said. Wait... She said that again after the trial... Right? And my bracelet didn't react. So maybe she really does forgive me. Ugh. Why would she do that? She should've just punched me like I told her to. Now I can't forgive myself... Ugh. I feel like an idiot.**_

My heart began to pang with empathy and sadness, only to jump when I heard movement in the bedroom. I quickly jumped off the couch, dashed into the kitchen, and pretended to be infatuated with the view out his window. I didn't need to pretend. I was captivated by all the white light, blinding me momentarily, until I could see piles of pure white snow on everything, from roofs to mailboxes to bushes.

"Wow..." Apollo's awed voice behind me made me jump. "Did I scare you?" he smirked.

"No! You just surpris-"

"Then why did Widget turn blue?" His smirk widened.

"Grr, fine. You scared me." There was a bit of an awkward pause. "Well, I made you coffee."

"I noticed."

"Mr. Wright told me that I shouldn't talk to you before you had coffee. Nice brand, by the way."

"He would. He's not much better without coffee. He said there was only one person he'd ever met who drank more of it than me," he said with a laugh. He suddenly laughed harder, realizing what brand of coffee I was talking about. "You would like the brand. I don't actually get it just because of Mr. Starbuck, though. Although it's a nice touch."

"Suuuure," I said as Apollo poured himself a mug.

"Wait... When did you talk to Mr. Wright?"

"Oh! He called earlier to tell you that the trial was called off due to the weather."

"Oh. I bet he enjoyed making fun of you for sleeping over here," he snickered, rolling his eyes. It seemed like he had something against Mr. Wright in his journal... _Is he still mad?_

"You ok?" he asked. I knew I couldn't lie, and it wasn't just because of his bracelet.

"Ugh. Can I have some coffee? I'm exhausted." Well, I could definitely avoid the question.

"You made it." He smiled, reaching for a mug, before placing it in front of me.

"Merci beaucoup."

"Gosh, you remind me of Klavier. Can nobody speak English?"

"Nein," I grinned. "Isn't he your prosecutor friend that we met at Themis?" I made sure to use the word friend.

"Well... yeah. I haven't seen him since then, though." I could feel a lot of discord, and I knew without a counseling session (or having read his dia- journal) that he must feel sad about not seeing the ex-rock star.

"You miss him, don't you?"

"Yeah. He was a good friend of mine."

"He's at the prosecutor's office, right? Why don't you just drop by?"

"I doubt he'd really want to see me, or he would have called or something."

"He's probably thinking the exact same thing!" I exclaimed.

"It's not that easy. I more or less ruined his life, after all."

"What did you do?"

"I put his brother and his best friend in jail, effectively destroying his family life AND his musical career."

"You mean the second guitarist? Wasn't he guilty?"

"Yes."

"Then what did you do wrong?"

"...I doubt Klavier would see it that way."

"It wasn't like he was avoiding you at Themis. And I didn't pick up any discord from him."

"Then why hasn't he spoken to me since then?"

"The question is why you haven't spoken to him since then."

Apollo sighed. "Maybe you're right." He put his finger to his forehead. "I'll bet the prosecutor's office is closed, though."

"I'll bet he feels pretty lonely," I murmured.

"Lonely? He's an ex-rock star. He can go anywhere and find 300 people who have been hoping to get a glimpse of him his entire life."

"But what about his real friends? He has no band mates, no best friends, and apparently no defense attorneys."

"Oh. I never really thought about that." He thought for a second, and looked outside. "I should really clear off the driveway." Way to change the subject.

"Why? You don't even have a car!"

"Other people do." _Is he thinking about the possibility of inviting Klavier over? That would be so great!_

"I'd help if you want," I said, perking up.

"No, I couldn't..."

"You aren't going out alone in this!" I laughed.

"You still don't have a coat?" he asked skeptically.

"...no..." Apollo sighed.

"If you really want to help, you have to wear one of mine."

"Ok!" I exclaimed. Apollo looked shocked. "Did you think I'd say no?" I smirked.

"Yes. Ugh. If you really want to help that much, you can."

(O)

A few cups of coffee and what sounded like a phone call later, we grabbed snow shovels and started to dig out Apollo's driveway, starting from the bottom. I looked out at the snow, captivated for the 73rd time. The white powder glittered in the sky, floating lazily. The sun had peeked out behind the clouds, and you could see a pale blue color behind it. The sun cast golden light onto the newly fallen snow. It was beautiful.

"I didn't expect it to be so pretty out here," I murmured, breaking the silence. I hadn't spoken until we were almost finished with the job- Apollo had a remarkably small driveway.

"I haven't seen much snow before," he replied quietly. "I'd like it if it weren't so cold."

"That would take the fun out of it!" I smiled.

"How is it more fun when it's cold?" He turned towards me, only to be answered with a snowball to the face. "OBJECTION!"

"Overruled! Gosh Apollo, your chords of steel are going to cause an avalanche!" Apollo proceeded to try and make a snowball, clearly inexperienced. To his credit, he still managed to hit me in the back of the neck.

"Gotcha," he grinned.

I ran towards him, Widget reflecting his favorite color. Suddenly, I slipped, an ice patch under me lifting my feet up towards the sky. I screamed, landing with enough force to send me skidding down the driveway a few feet.

"Athena! Are you all right?!" Apollo ran over to me, and I groaned. My face stung and I buried my face in my gloves. "Let me see." I whimpered, trying not to cry, and shook my head no. "Athena."

"_**IT HURTS!**_" Widget screeched.

"Please let me see." I lowered my hands in defeat, looking at my borrowed red gloves that now had patches of darker red on them. I looked up at Apollo and saw his brown eyes widen. My pain faded for a second as his expression melted into a look of concern, his eyes meeting mine. We sat like that for a second too long before Apollo stuttered, "Band-aid. You need a band-aid." and ran back inside. _His eyes, _I thought for a moment. _Nope! He's Junie's! JUNIE'S! _I mentally slapped myself for even considering it. _Intrusive thoughts are present everywhere. It's all we can do not to pay attention to them. _

I noticed a drop of blood in the snow and realized it was from my face. Taking off a glove, I brushed a finger across my cheek, finding it very much red when I pulled it away. _Shoot. _I heard a door open and close in a hurry, and before I knew it Apollo had antibiotic ointment and a bandaid on my face. "All right, you need to go inside. I'll finish shoveling."

"No! I wanna help!" I protested.

"I've had enough of your blood, sweat, and tears on my driveway," he joked. "But seriously, you really scraped yourself up. This will take me ten minutes."

"If it's not that big of a deal for you to do yourself, than it would be even less of a deal for me to help you!" I retorted.

"Fine. It's a _huge deal_, the hardest thing I'll ever do in my life aside from getting you to go inside."

"Then I'll take a load off your shoulders!"

He sighed. "You never give up, do you?"

"You're only figuring this out now? Man, you've got a lot to learn!" We both laughed. I picked up a snow shovel, and Apollo looked at me seriously.

"Go inside."

"Why?"

"You just gashed your face open!"

"Tis but a scratch! A mere flesh wound! My arms and legs are fine!"

"Says the one who was curled up in a ball sobbing two minutes ago." Apollo sighed. "Please go inside?" I stared him down and he glared back, unwavering. We were in an unspoken staring contest and we both knew it. I sat there for a minute before my eyes began to water, and the cold forced them shut.

"Argh! Fine. Just don't have too much fun without me."

"I won't," Apollo replied, smiling a little.

Stepping inside, I was greeted with the warm, laundry-detergent scented air, and I sighed. I stepped into the bathroom to look at my face. My left cheek had taken the majority of the damage, though my forehead hadn't escaped the pavement, either.

All of a sudden, the phone started ringing. Part of me knew it would be a bad idea to pick up, but the rest of me didn't care. "Hello?"

"_Hello. We are calling today to ask for your thoughts on the recent presidential election. This survey will take only seconds to complete. If you were pleased with the results, press 1. If you were-"_

I hung up, irritated, and wandered into the kitchen to see if I could find something to drink, only to hear the phone ringing again. I picked it up again, slightly irked.

"_Hello. We are calling today to ask for your thoughts on the recent-"_ I hung up again, fuming. _Those campaigners never quit! _I went back into the kitchen to complete my original task, finding a cup after opening at least 12 cabinets. I'd found some orange juice in the fridge and started drinking it when the phone started ringing again. Furious, I spit out some of my orange juice and stormed over to the phone.

"Stop calling! Can you really not take the hint that I don't care?! YOU'RE ANNOYING ME TO DEATH," I yelled into the phone. There was a moment of silence.

"_Fraulein Cykes?"_ Someone asked, and I immediately felt my face go red.

"P-prosecutor Gavin?! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, there were these telemarketers that wouldn't stop calling and-" I was interrupted by the sound of laughter on the other end of the phone.

"_What are you doing at Herr Forehead's residence, besides yelling at those who call him?"_

"Drinking orange juice."

He laughed. "_Fair enough. Where is Herr Forehead?"_

"Outside, clearing the driveway."

"_Does he own a snow shovel? This is Los Angeles. This sort of snow is unheard of, nein?"_

"He has two. Don't ask me why. And he has a cat, too!"

"_I can assume that Herr Forehead isn't clearing the driveway with his cat, ja?" _

"Uh, yeah." I laughed. "So, why are you calling?"

"_Herr Forehead wished to speak to me about the case. I thought it was strange, since you were the defense, but I suppose it makes sense now." _

"Oh!" _I was right! That never happens! _"Are you going to come over?"

"_Ja, that was the plan. However, I have no way of knowing where Herr Forehead lives." _

"Oh! Uh… I'm not too sure of the address, either. One sec." Grabbing the phone, I ran outside to find Apollo. "Apollo, where do you live?"

"...Here? At my house?" he retorted, smirking.

"No, I mean the address!"

"Oh. 1934 Pontellier Avenue."

"Thanks!" I walked back inside and put the phone up to my ear. "1934 Pont-elly-er Avenue."

"_...You speak French, nein? It's Pontellier, if I'm correct about the side of town he lives on." _

"Hey, I got it from the horse's mouth! The horse being Apollo. I guess he's not much of a French speaker."

He laughed. "_Apparently. Ja, I'll see you soon, then. It means everything to me that we find the truth in this case." _

I felt something in his voice when he said that, and I could suddenly feel my heart breaking for him. "Rose is innocent, I swear it."

"_I hope you're correct. Ja, I'll be there soon. __Auf Wiedersehen."_

"À bientôt!" I replied, hanging up the phone. _I know I'm right… And I'll show you, too, I swear it. _


	5. It Has to Melt Eventually

Hey guys! Sorry for sporadic updates, but we're finally getting into the story! And now that Ace Attorney 6 has been announced, I'm more pumped than ever! ...Becauseonceitcomesoutthisstorywillberenderedtotallynullbut THAT'S OKAY BECAUSE ACE ATTORNEY SIX!

Just so you guys know, I had to do some character maturing. After his amazing moment in AAI2 Gummy has to have done some serious growing up, I'd think. And if you attempt to tell me he hasn't married Maggey yet I'll glue you to a tree. I hope you enjoy!

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><p>Apollo came in minutes later, cheeks pink from the cold. "Apollo?" I asked.<p>

"Yeah?"

"Why do you have a snow shovel?"

Apollo laughed. "Mr. Wright gave it to me for Christmas last year."

"Why? It doesn't snow around here!"

"...Athena, he gave you a pineapple for Christmas."

"I love pineapples!"

Apollo sighed. "Ever heard of a white elephant gift?"

"Nope!"

"I'll explain it later," he replied, a hint of a smirk on his lips. "I've got to prepare for the humiliation of having a rich person in my house."

His house was already pretty clean, to the point of looking almost bare, so there were no immediate improvements to be made. He did get on the phone to order food of some kind, though. By the time he'd hung up the phone, there was a knock at the door. "Got it!" I called. Opening the door, I was met with a bright smile. "Hi, Prosecutor Gavin!"

"It's good to see you, fraulein." He paused and looked at my face intently, and I remembered the band-aid over it.

"I scratched myself up a little," I said sheepishly. He let out an "ah" and smiled, and I invited him inside, gushing internally over the fact that there was a famous person in my midst. Apollo poked out from the kitchen, and the prosecutor smiled. "Herr Forehead!"

"Hey, Prosecutor Gavin."

"We aren't at work, ja? Klavier is fine."

"We're talking about the case, aren't we?" Apollo asked, earning a glare from me. "E-Er, yeah. Klavier." The name came off his tongue awkwardly, and I felt myself grinning. Klavier laughed too.

"Excuse me for being direct, but you spoke of a lead on the case, and I'm rather curious about it."

"I don't blame you… But it would probably be best just to show you," Apollo said.

"I've examined the crime scene rather thoroughly, ja? I'm sure you can just tell me."

"You aren't clumsy enough to have investigated everything," Apollo replied, smirking.

"Hey!" I jabbed him in the ribs, and Klavier laughed.

"What exactly did you do? I was informed you were never allowed to enter the crime scene, only look from the window."

"Oh, we entered the crime scene," Apollo said smugly.

"But there were guards at the door, ja?"

"You're acting like there's only one way in," I told him.

"...You found an escape route?" His eyes were hopeful, though his tone was skeptical.

"That's what we're going to have to show you," I said, grinning.

"...Ja, you've certainly caught my attention. I'm willing to investigate any lead that could prove the fraulein innocent. A guilty verdict is meaningless to me at times like these." His expression was level, but I could hear the fear and sadness in his voice.

"We want the truth, too. And that's why we're going to do whatever it takes to prove Rose innocent!" I declared.

"If anyone can convince me of it, it would be the both of you." Klavier smiled. "Ja, we have a crime scene to investigate, do we not?"

"You bet! Los geht's!"

"Ja, los geht's."

"Hey, English speaker over here. One who isn't pretending they were born overseas," Apollo muttered.

"Hey! America has no National language, I'll have you know!" I retorted.

"But we're in California, and California's official language, according to its constitution, is English," he said, smirking. Nooooo! That can't be! "But we've got to get going. Ms. Cygam was expecting us hours ago."

"She is expecting you?"

"Well, she's probably asleep, but yeah," I said sheepishly.

"Then we should make haste, ja?"

"Ja."

"...English."

(O)

When we headed outside it was raining. "So much for shoveling the driveway," Apollo muttered. "You need a jacket, Prosecutor Gavin?"

"Klavier," I coughed.

"Nein, Germany has shown me far worse than this."

"...My butt hurts. A lot," I whined.

"What did you do to her, Herr Forehead?" Klavier asked, bemused.

"N-nothing! What would I…" Apollo stopped and glared at Klavier, who laughed.

"I only tease." They seemed to be having some bro-to-bro moment, so I let the joke go over my head.

By the time we got to the Wonder Bar, the snow was almost all gone and Klavier was completely soaked. It was pouring when we left! Why didn't he get a coat?! Despite this, he had a certain serenity about him that I hadn't seen before. He opened the door for Apollo and I, stopping to greet our police friend from the night before. Apollo and I swapped knowing looks and tried not to laugh.

"This is Henry-" Klavier said, seemingly stopping himself from finishing. Now that I could see him head on, he looked tiny- He couldn't have been out of high school. He wore a bowtie and a white fedora, curly chocolate brown hair poking out from underneath the brim.

"Nice to meet you!" I said, putting my hand out.

"Yeah," he said shyly. He took my hand and shook it firmly.

"So, what are you here for?" I asked.

"I'm… Um…" He doesn't speak much, does he?

"He's studying to become a detective," Klavier cut in. I could tell without Apollo twitching next to me that it was a blatant lie, but I figured it wasn't too crucial to the case, or Klavier would have told us.

"I'm working with Mr. Gumshoe," Henry added quietly.

"That would be me, pals!" shouted someone from across the room. He wore a black trench coat, an olive green button-down shirt, and a giant grin.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Athena!" I called. I walked over, practically dragging Apollo behind me.

"Detective Gumshoe here! You kids defense attorneys?"

"I'm not a kid!" I protested. "I'm a legal adult!"

"...Athena, you're still basically a kid," Apollo said. No I'm not! "Yeah, we're defense attorneys."

"You guys know Mr. Phoenix Wright?"

"The boss?" I asked. "Yeah. We're part of his team of capable adults."

"If you kids work for Mr. Wright, I'd call you pals of mine." He grinned.

"I'm not a kid!"

"So what's Mr. Wright up to these days? I heard he was reinstated as a lawyer! Makes me proud." Oh, I'll tell you who's proud, you arrogant jerk! Don't ignore me!

"He's doing fine," Apollo cut in. "So, detective, what can you tell us about the case?"

"Just fine? I'd hope he'd be doing a little bit better than just passing with that badge of his back."

"Oh, Apollo says fine a lot. It doesn't really mean 'fine' with him," I replied.

"Force of habit. So, about the case-"

"So old Mr. Wright's doing well these days, then? I'd love to see him. We've got some serious catching up to do."

"Mr. Gumshoe, we're at a murder scene. Can we talk about some actual evidence?" Apollo pleaded.

"Oh, sorry, pals! I didn't mean to get off track. It's just that Mr. Wright and I have been pals for years! You gotta understand when I say I miss him. He saved me quite a few times back in the day! He's the reason I'm married today!"

"Aww!" I cooed. I then remembered I was angry at him and returned to being bitter.

"Mr. Gumshoe, we really need to investigate!"

"Oh, sorry pal!"

Apollo sighed. "What can you tell us about the night of the crime?"

"It's pretty simple, pal. Mrs. Mahogany was alone in dressing room one, which is right next to the security room. There was one bullet hole in the glass between the rooms, and one in the victim's head. It's a pretty shut and open case, if you ask me."

"You mean open and shut?" I asked.

"That's what I said!" he retorted. I'd about had it.

"Arrogant jerk!" Widget bleeped.

"Did you just call me an arrogant jerk?" the guy asked. I was immediately overwhelmed by his feelings of sadness and shock blasting me in the face.

"Mr. Gumshoe is the nicest person I've ever met!" Henry shouted across the room, indignant. ...I think I might've had some premature thoughts about the guy if even Henry spoke up.

Quick, Athena! Smooth recovery!

"I-I didn't say that! It was my necklace. It says some terrible things." ...Very smooth.

"You have a talking necklace?!" Mr. Gumshoe's eyes lit up, his tone indicating that he'd forgotten completely about his abused feelings.

"It only talks occasionally," Apollo cut in. "Anyways, I have a question for you, detective. How do you know Mrs. Mahogany was alone?"

"We've got a witness, pal!" Gumshoe exclaimed, eyes locked on my necklace.

"A witness?" I asked, flipping my hair in order to cover Widget. But a witness would've seen the assassin!

"You got it, pal! But I can't say a word about her. Prosecutor Gavin wouldn't like that."

I whipped around to face the prosecutor, who was talking with a disgruntled Henry across the room. He'd whipped around at the sound of his name, and was now leading Henry towards us, one hand on his back. Henry looked at me suspiciously. I'm sorry!

"Prosecutor Gavin, Detective Gumshoe won't tell us about the witness," Apollo whined.

"Ah, Herr Gumshoe, these attorneys are friends of mine." Klavier grinned, turning to Apollo. "Say the magic word and I'll tell you all about her, Herr Forehead."

"Please?"

He laughed. "Nein, not the word I was looking for."

Apollo looked lost, so I whispered something in his ear. "I'm not calling him Klavier until he stops calling me Herr Forehead."

The prosecutor grinned. "You want your information, ja?"

"You are not blackmailing me."

"Blackmail is a harsh word, ja? It's merely persuasion with a bit of manipulation."

Apollo crossed his arms. "Just say it, Apollo!" I said, jabbing him in the ribs.

"Ow! Okay! Klavier!"

Klavier smiled. "That wasn't so hard, was it, Herr Forehead?" Apollo narrowed his eyes, and Klavier frowned. "Unfortunately, you won't like who we have as our witness. Herr Detective didn't arrest the fraulein for no reason."

"You mean they're credible?"

"Very much. After all, the witness is the defendant's wife."


	6. For Drama Queens and Country

Hey guys! Sorry for slow updates; I wish I could spend more time writing. Marching season is hard. XD

Anyways, I'm excited to finally be getting into the plot. I love hearing your guys' thoughts, so thank you so much for your kind reviews! If you've got any constructive criticism, especially regarding my OC's, I'm all ears! You get to meet the queen herself this chapter, so I hope you like her. Or hate her. Either one works ;)

I hope you enjoy!

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><p>"The defendant's wife?!" That can't be...<p>

"That HAS to be illegal." Apollo's brow furrowed.

"Nein, it's my call. If the defense were to call in someone close to the defendant, that would be a different issue. But Cynthia is honest to a fault, and I trust her to testify truthfully."

I whipped around to face Klavier. "You do mean Cynthia Jackson, right?!" I asked, earning a strange look from Apollo.

"Ach, you know her?" Klavier replied.

"She's the one who hired us in the first place!" I retorted. Apollo jumped.

"She hired you?" Klavier looked at me intently.

"Yes! She believed in Rose's innocence with all her heart!" I pointed to my necklace for emphasis. Apollo looked confused, and I remembered that Apollo hadn't met either our client or our defendant, nor had I explained much about them to him. Heh. Whoops.

"She told me otherwise." Klavier frowned. "And as I said, Cynthia would never lie."

"Will someone please explain who this Cynthia girl is?" Apollo complained.

"Uh, hi? I, like, heard my name," someone said. I turned around to see the girl in question, wearing a ponytail of short blue hair on the top of her head.

"Oh! Cynthia!" I gasped.

"Uh, hi! Are you a fan?"

"Uh… No. I'm your lawyer. Cynthia, you told me Rose was innocent, right?"

"Um, I, like, never told you that." She sounded scared, but her face remained stagnant, lazily curling a stray piece of blue hair around her finger. "I wanna, like, believe in her. But I, like, I saw her kill him."

This was not the Cynthia who had come to the agency begging for help.

When I'd last seen her, Trucy had accidentally released a rabbit into the agency, and Cynthia had taken Mr. Wright's beanie from off of one of Trucy's trophies and caught the rabbit almost immediately. She was sharp witted, cool, collected, and confident.

"Cynthia, you told us just yesterday that you were in your dressing room when the bullet was fired."

"I don't even, like, know you people."

"Objection!" I yelled. Apollo jumped back, and even Klavier looked startled, but Cynthia didn't move an inch. "I took a selfie with you! You can't go back on the selfie!"

I started to pull out my phone when Cynthia interrupted. "Rose is guilty. You have to understand that. It's hard to accept, okay?" For one second her eyes seemed to gain the piercing quality I'd associated with her, but her eyes glassed over again almost immediately. "But, like, I know what I saw." She stormed off, high heels clacking on the black tile floor.

I looked over at Klavier, who merely smiled. "That's Cynthia for you. A bit hot headed, ja? But honest to a fault."

I shook my head. "That's not the same girl I met yesterday."

"Then who did you meet yesterday?" Apollo asked.

"You didn't meet your client, Herr Forehead?"

"I couldn't. She'd only talk to Athena and Trucy." Apollo frowned. "I never so much as saw her face."

"I'm gonna go talk to her," I decided, running towards the client in question. "Cynthia!"

She stepped into her dressing room, and I whipped around into the doorway. "Hey," she said quietly.

"What's going on?" I demanded.

"Shut the door… And sit down." I did what she said, sitting next to her on a white designer couch. The room was dark, so Cynthia turned on a little blue lamp. "Klavier can't know about this."

"Know about what?"

"Anything. I told him not to take the case. But he wanted to be some sort of hero, showing he wasn't afraid to prosecute people he cared about." She sighed. "This case is way more complicated than anything he needs to be involved in."

"He loves complicated cases."

"Not emotionally complicated ones." Cynthia frowned. "Ever since we were kids, he's had a really hard life. People look at him and think, 'Oh, he's a celebrity, he's got everything he wants,' but he's got everything he doesn't want and nothing he needs. I just want him to step out of this case."

"So you'd lie to him?"

"Of course. I believe in such a thing as 'blissfully ignorant'."

"You aren't just lying. You're acting."

"Oh, Klav knows I'm acting. It's a stage persona. Everyone around here knows that, except for Shoe, maybe. And Henry." She sighed, and rolled her eyes. "An intern. Klav legitimately thought he was an intern."

"...There's too many mysteries in this case. Can't you tell me what's going on?"

"Of course… Provided you do your job as my lawyer and don't let anyone else in on it."

I sighed. "That's the law. Yeah, I promise. I know you want the best for Rose."

"Not even Apollo?" she asked.

"Not even Apollo."

"All right, I trust you. I sort of have to, I guess, or Rose is screwed." Her blue eyes rippled with thought. "How much do you know about Cygam?"

"She's the manager here."

"That's it?"

"Uh, she's pretty grumpy."

Cynthia raised her eyebrows. "Do you even know her real name?"

"You mean her name is fake?"

"...What kind of sadistic parent would name their kid Neptune Cygam?"

"I dunno. Maybe it's from Roman mythology. My mom would've loved that name," I replied.

"...Anyways, no. Her name is Rachel Louis."

"That's pretty plain."

"Yeah, not glitzy enough for a performer. Do you get how she knows Klav, then?"

"Uh…"

"She's Shane Louis' mom."

"Shane?! The drummer?!"

"Yeah. Shay was locked up a while ago for murder. Cygam's never been a cheerful person, but she's been particularly upset recently."

"She really hated Apollo," I told her.

"Oh, she really hates a lot of people. But I don't blame her... She's been through a lot."

"So how does that relate to the case?"

"No matter what happens, Klav will be crushed. I don't know who's at fault in this case. But someone shot the gun, and that person is close to Klav. I don't know how much more betrayal the guy can take. He's always been strong, but... Trust is a hard thing. A very important, very hard thing. And trust and truth should be based in each other. I just... I don't know what to do. People are going to get hurt. Murders do that. But Klav's already really fragile, and I don't want to see him break." I could hear discord wailing in my ears, along with the crackling sound of anger.

"But Neptune didn't kill Mr. Coello," I said.

"Do you know that?"

"Yes! Look at this!" I pulled out the assassin's card and showed it to her.

"...This is de Killer's card." Cynthia whistled an unfamiliar tune, and the lights came on full force. I covered my eyes, opening them painfully to see Cynthia poring over the card. She pulled some sort of needle out of her bag and scraped off a bit of pink from the shell design, opened the lens of her watch, and put the piece of paint inside.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm a forensic artist."

"Huh?"

"Everyone on the Gavinners is a member of the police force. Well, I'm the artist. I analyze paint samples, draw suspects, the like." She pulled some cylindrical object out of her bag and held it up to her watch, which I was suddenly doubting was actually a watch. She held her eye up to it, paused for a moment, and shook her head. "This card's about twenty years old. What are you doing with it?"

"Twenty years old?! But we found it outside of the Wonder Bar yesterday!"

"I doubt it's relevant."

"But... it's got to be!"

"Where did you say you found this again?"

"It was in the back of the Wonder Bar, down at the bottom of the hill, near where Mrs. Cygam lives."

"...Where Cygam lives?"

"Err, the storage room."

"We don't have a storage room here. It's sort of a bring-your-own-party kind of place." Cynthia frowned. _You mean she doesn't know about it? _"Unless you mean the bar room. Cygam does seem to live there," she laughed.

"Yeah, that's what I meant," I said carefully, a grin on my face. I figured Apollo wouldn't want me to give up our lead. "Anyways, the card was outside."

"I have no idea how it would've gotten there. But I can tell you this: de Killer is not involved in this case."

"But wasn't the victim chasing de Killer?" _I thought Ms. Cygam mentioned that… _

"So you do know about the victim." She seemed a bit downcast.

"Did you know him?"

"Not really. I knew Scott was a member of Interpol, so I tried not to bother him. But I guess that secret's out now."

"I don't know much about his position," I said.

"Oh, really? He was at the head of Interpol's assassin concentration. A well respected man. You know Henry?"

"A little."

"He's Scott's kid."

"Oh! I… I didn't know…"

"We're trying to keep that under wraps. Usually, we keep family members off of the crime scene, but Henry's known Klav and Shoe for a long time."

"Then doesn't Klavier know who Henry's dad is?"

"I don't know what he's doing. That information isn't exactly a secret. A simple google search of the guy would've given Klav that information, not to mention the public records he's got access to. It doesn't seem like he's really investigated this case at all."

"Maybe he just spent all of his time investigating the crime scene."

"Negative. He wasn't even here for most of yesterday, and he didn't know he'd get an extra investigation day. You'd think he'd have a special interest in this case."

She was angry. Really, really angry. You couldn't tell by the rolling of her cool blue eyes or her smirk or her posture, but her voice crackled with rage. "I'm sure there's a reason for him not being here," I replied.

"Like what? Playing a gig?" Her face deadpanned.

"He's really emotionally involved in this case, just as much as you are."

"That's my _wife _on the defendant's stand!" Her fist balled up and all at once her face snapped to match her emotions, eyes flaring with anger.

"I know that. But you aren't the only one hurting. Did you even take the chance to ask him where he was?"

"There's no excuse."

"Then I'll ask him. There's got to be a reason."

"Klavier doesn't care about us. All he ever wanted was our talents, anyways."

I whipped my head around to meet her eyes. "Don't doubt your friend."

"Why not? You don't even know him, Cykes."

"Neither do you." I tapped Widget, the screen popping out.

"What the hell is that?" She asked, arms crossed.

"You seemed scared that Klavier doesn't care about you. Why is that, if you're so sure he doesn't?"

"Of course I'm scared. If he doesn't care about us, we're screwed." She grimaced. "Now, answer my question. What is that?"

"I'm a psychologist. It helps me evaluate people's emotions."

"Then tell me. How am I feeling right now?"

"Angry. And scared."

"Congratulations. Now you're my lawyer. Do something about it."

"I'll do more than that. I'll prove both Rose and Klavier innocent, both in the court's eyes and in yours."

"Klavier's too much like his brother. And you know what happened to his brother."

"I don't, actually." I frowned.

"And you say you know him." She stood up, glaring down at me.

"Who is he?"

"Klav's brother was a famous defense attorney. Now he's better known as a serial killer." _A serial killer?!_ "If I remember right, he was indicted by some guy named Apollo Justice. Know him?" She laughed. "You don't know your own boyfriend, not to mention Klavier. 'Feelings' don't matter when you don't know the soul."

"...Apollo's not my boyfriend."

"Clearly. Then you might know the guy." She sighed. "What I'm saying is that Klav isn't the sweet prince you think he is. If you're really a psychologist worth your salt, you'll see." She began to walk away.

"You believe in him," I said, her hand touching the doorknob.

"I don't."

"You do. That's why you're hurting so much right now."

"Then do what you said you would! I'm leaving." The door flew open and then slammed, leaving me alone with the little blue light.

I turned it off and sat in darkness, the room illuminated by a smaller blue light that hung from my neck, and pondered whether it was ironic that my sadness lit up the room. Maybe it wasn't ironic, but iconic that unveiling your emotions helps you to see. _I'll open their eyes if it's the last thing I do_, I decided.


	7. The Odds are Never in Our Favor

Hey, guys! Sorry, this chapter was a long time in coming! I kinda planned the beginning and end of this story, but the middle needed some detail work so I could avoid contradictions. More confusion for you! You'll be seeing Rose, our defendant, very soon. It sure is a good thing our lawyers got a snow day, huh? Luck does seem to be on their side... For now.

Hope you enjoy! Don't forget to R&R- every word of yours makes my day!

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><p>I needed to talk to Neptune. Everyone seemed to be convinced she was a killer, but I knew it wasn't true. Yeah, she was weird, but she had emotions and feelings just like all of us. Somehow everyone forgot that. But upon leaving Dressing Room 2, I found that Apollo had already gotten that ball rolling. I sighed, knowing precisely where that conversation would lead. <em>Why doesn't anyone seem to have any faith? <em>

"Morning, kiddo." I jumped, whipping my head around to find Mr. Wright smiling down at me.

"If one more person calls me a kid, I'm off this case," I swore.

"What's so bad about being a kid?"

"Everyone's looking down on me!" I sighed.

"That's just because you're short," he joked. I glared at him. "Sorry, sorry. There's nothing wrong with being short. It gives you a different perspective, really, one that the rest of these guys might not see. When you're small, you have to keep your chin up, or you'll miss out. And I don't think that's a weakness at all."

"This isn't Phoenix Wright wax philosophical power hour. This is way more than just a physical issue!"

"Of course it is. Which is why you've got to present a little evidence in your favor. Not everyone here is going to have the faith you've got. Because they aren't you. But when you've got your childlike faith… Well, you've seen how far that can take you." _He sees right through me, doesn't he?_

"I feel like my faith is a little directionless right now."

"Oh, really? I've got something that might just help with that. That's why I'm here, actually." He pulled something out of his pocket. "Now, this is really important to me, so take care of it, all right? Trucy told me that you'd need it, though, and I'm not one to argue with her." He shuddered. "You remember my magatama, don't you?"

"Boss, you couldn't possibly-"

"I'm leaving it in your capable hands. As great as your brand of psychology is, you can't just pull out Widget wherever you want to." He placed the magatama in my hands. "And who knows, I might just have something to get out of this as well." Chains exploded into my vision, and three red locks boomed over the boss's heart.

"What are those chains?!" I asked.

"They're a sign that I know more than I'm willing to tell you."

"Wait, why are you keeping secrets?"

"What I know doesn't quite relate to the case at hand. I don't want to send you off on a wild goose chase, do I? But this case does have a certain importance to me, one that you'll figure out soon."

"**I wanna know!" **Widget whined. Mr. Wright laughed.

"Then get investigating." He turned around. "Where did Trucy go? She was here to investigate." _Don't you have a daddy daughter homing instinct?_

"Hey Daddy!" a voice called out. I looked around, but I couldn't find Trucy anywhere.

"Haven't you spent enough time investigating under the floor?" the Boss replied.

I felt knocking under my feet, and I jumped. "Trucy?!"

"Athena, you're standing on top of the trap door," she whined. I took a few steps off, and a black tile removed itself from the floor.

"Find anything?" the boss asked.

"Nope. Unless you think a sock counts as crucial evidence." She threw the offending item at us, which was green, red, and silver. "It does contribute to the Christmas spirit, though!" _Christmas was weeks ago, Trucy. _

"Well, you kids should get going." I glared at my boss. "Remember, being a kid is a good thing. Don't let anyone take that from you."

I sighed and walked away, but Trucy grabbed my hand. "Being a kid is great! You can only be one once!"

"I'm eighteen," I retorted.

"That's still a teen!"

"I just want people to respect me. You know that feeling, don't you?"

"I tend not to worry about that," she replied, adjusting her hat. "If they underestimate me, they're in for one heck of a show! You're at an advantage, because people don't think you're capable. You're a lawyer! Prove them wrong!"

I smiled. "Thanks, Trucy. That actually really helped."

Suddenly, something flew over my eyes. I stepped backwards, reaching for my face. Lifting it up, I realized it was just Trucy's hat. "Awesome! Now let's make some magic happen."

After I adjusted the brim, the two of us walked over to where Neptune, Apollo, and Klavier were talking. "Talk about a crappy night," Apollo said.

"Yeah. Of all the days to be murdered, he had to pick that one," Neptune replied.

"Are you saying he chose to be murdered?" I asked.

"Oh, Athena!" Apollo exclaimed.

"You never know what a victim's thinking when he died," Neptune said with a grin.

"'Cept for Pearl," Trucy whispered in my ear. I'm not entirely sure why everyone rendered Pearly as all-knowing, but she was pretty cute, so I laughed.

"Anyways, what were you guys talking about?" I asked.

"Ach, I mentioned that Herr Coello died on his wedding anniversary. Quite unfortunate, nein?" Klavier frowned.

"His poor wife!" I exclaimed.

"Fraulein Coello has passed on as well. Perhaps it's fitting they were reunited on their wedding night," Klavier replied.

"I guess you could say Rose killed him with kindness," Neptune joked.

"Rose didn't kill him!" I said.

"Fraulein, I appreciate your efforts to prove your client innocent, but the evidence is simply not in your favor." Klavier crossed his arms.

"What do you mean?!" I asked.

"Athena… He's got video evidence." Apollo frowned.

"What?! No way! That can't be true!" My necklace glowed yellow, then blue, then red, then back to yellow again.

"I ask your apologies, fraulein. I would not prosecute a friend without reason." Klavier frowned. _His heart sounds so sad!_

"Can I see it?" I asked.

"I don't see why not, so long as Fraulein Cygam doesn't mind."

"Oh, I don't mind at all. If you're looking for a goose chase, it's not here. I don't like it when people run around aimlessly, especially when they're still young enough to believe in hope. Follow me into the security office," Neptune told us with a wave of her hand.

"Coming, Apollo?" I asked.

"No, I've already seen the video. You and Trucy can go ahead. Prosecutor Gavin and I were-"

"Klavier," he interjected, a grin spreading on his face as Apollo's deadpanned.

"We had something_ serious_ to talk about."

"All right," I said. Trucy and I walked into the security room and watched as Neptune rewinded something on a screen.

"Look at this," she said. The camera was located outside of the door on the other side of the auditorium, designed to take videos of performances, but you could see the room through a small window. It was a bit hard to see, and very zoomed in, but I could see Rose well enough to identify her. At least, I could see her bright red beehive-styled hair, anyways. It was a bit hard to see her dark skin against the darkness of the room, but she wore white gloves and held something in her hand.

"That… That's a gun!" I gasped.

"Keep watching." In the video, Rose jumped back and pointed the gun towards what seemed to be the security office, and I heard two gunshots, one just seconds after the first. Rose then ran off screen.

"W-what is that?!" I exclaimed.

"The final nail in Rose's coffin. It's a shame, I enjoyed her music, and her wife seems rather sweet... Though she's not exactly the smartest. Heavens knows why she's in forensics." _You mean she doesn't know about the stage personas? _

"Cynthia seemed pretty smart to me!" Trucy said, and I glared at her. Trucy seemed to get the hint. "At least when it comes to her artsy stuff." _She's a brilliant liar. I wonder where she picked that up?_

Neptune huffed. "Of all the most useless abilities to have in this world. She got pretty lucky, winding up in a band like the Gavinners."

"Your son was in that band, wasn't he?" I asked.

"Don't talk about my son," Neptune snapped.

"What happened?" Trucy asked.

"That is absolutely none of your business." Her blue eyes suddenly looked like they were burning through Trucy's eyes, but Trucy just smiled.

"I'm sorry. Sensitive topic?"

"You could say that." Neptune backed off, uncrossing her arms and picking up another remote. "Now, you might think that the person in the video could be anyone, right?"

"I mean, it could be."

"It would be unfortunate if we had another video, wouldn't it?" Neptune grinned.

"No..."

"You can't!" Trucy protested.

"Just watch," Neptune said, grinning. She turned on another screen, one that was in the room with Rose. "Now, this doesn't have audio, but it has pretty clear video." It was true. You could see Rose perfectly, with beautiful onyx skin and cherry red hair and a gun between her hands. She pulled the trigger, and the gun fired. You could see shattered glass enter the screen, though you couldn't see the window itself. That didn't matter, though."

"She can't be guilty!" I said.

"I'm sorry, honey. There's just only so much you can expect. Scott's dead. What makes Rose any better than the rest of us?"

"I believe in her."

"Yeah? Well, I don't. Neither does Klavier. Even Cynthia is dead-set on testifying against her." Neptune laughed.

"That's not true! Cynthia loves Rose with all her heart!"

"If your boyfriend were to kill someone, would you still love him?"

"I don't know. I've never had a boyfriend. But I think so."

"You mean you and Mr. Justice..." Neptune grinned. "Ah. I see."

"Woah, no!" I backed up. "No, no, no no no."

Trucy giggled. "Are you blushing?"

"No!" I shouted. "Neptune, I swear I'll find the truth."

"Good luck with that. Like I said, I don't like wild goose chases, not when all the ducks are right in a row."

"I'll show you. Come on, Trucy, we're leaving."

"Wait, where are we going?!" she asked.

"We're going to talk to Rose."


End file.
